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As we gather with family and friends, let this Thanksgiving also be a holiday filled with ethnic and cultural diversity.

As we join our family and friends to celebrate a holiday that is uniquely American, let us take time to reflect on the true meaning and history of the Thanksgiving holiday.

The first Thanksgiving was a time during our colonial days when the newly-arrived settlers along with the native American Indians came together to celebrate and share the fruit of the harvest.

Irrespective of the color of their skin, their heritage, history, culture, or ethnic uniqueness, they were grateful and thankful that they had planted and yielded great crops during what had to be very difficult times in the early days of the founding of this country.

Native American Indians and the newly arrived immigrants shared in and celebrated a common humanity. The first Thanksgiving was indeed a holiday filled with ethnic and cultural diversity.

Holiday Filled with Ethnic and Cultural Diversity
(Photo By Jerome-Maurice/iStock Images)

Through the centuries and across generations that make up the ethnic, racial, and cultural diversity that is quintessential America, we continue to celebrate Thanksgiving. But has its meaning changed?

How much do we reach out to include people of different racial and ethnic origins in our Thanksgiving meals, celebrations, festivities? Has our own personal table narrowed or expanded when it comes to openly including and embracing the foods, traditions, and uniqueness of the celebration of others?

What an opportunity to have a holiday filled with ethnic and cultural diversity.

What a great opportunity to learn, to explore, to embrace and expand our understanding of people and traditions that differ than our own. Perhaps we can begin to close the chasms that seem to continue to divide us.

Who will you bring home for dinner? Or, where will you venture out to meet and share a meal unlike you have shared in the past or add something new to spice up a family tradition?

Growth requires us to step out beyond our comfort zones, taking chances to understand and be understood. A holiday filled with ethnic and cultural diversity can do just that

The early Pilgrims and the Native American did. And for a great time, they all were better for it.

We can reclaim their spirit and make it even greater and more inclusive today–sharing the traditions of others in person or in conversation.

Have a great Thanksgiving holiday of ethnic and cultural inclusiveness!

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